Erina Nakiri
Erina Nakiri (薙切 えりな Nakiri Erina) is one of the three main characters and a primary antagonistic rival to Sōma Yukihira in Shokugeki no Soma. Wielding the greatest palette in the world, "God's Tongue" and a member of the illustrious Nakiri family, Erina stands above everyone in her class as the top prospect of the 92nd Tōtsuki Generation of students and is currently the 10th seat of the Elite Ten Council. Appearance Erina has long honey blonde hair and pink eyes. Her bangs partially cross her cheeks and go down all the way to her neck. She has a large bust and is considered to be stunningly attractive to most of the students in Tōtsuki. According to her fans and followers, this trait coexists with her status. She wears whatever Tōtsuki uniform corresponds with the current season. Whenever she cooks, she wears a standard white chefs uniform and occasionally wears a chef's hat. She has never been shown in casual clothing save a cotton jacket and a bikini during her pool outing. Personality Erina is best described as a privileged and pampered girl. Because of her high class status and her rare ability "God's Tongue", she deems almost everything and everyone as plebeians in her "perfect world". Despite her young age, she is a prominent figure in the culinary world. She has garnered infamy due to her "God's Tongue", as any dish that she deems unsatisfactory will spell the end of any chef's career. Her reputation is so well known, that just her name alone is able to scare off amateur chefs within seconds. At the same time though, Erina's influence attracts many in her class to her due to her beauty, prestige, and unrivaled skill. Erina's upbringing, which gave her only the best the culinary world had to offer, resulted in a superiority complex. Because she is used to having only the best standard quality dishes, she often makes hasty judgement about simplistic dishes without ever considering them worthy of her time. Even if said dishes are delicious, Erina's pride immediately denies them from her "perfect world." She has spiteful tendencies as any person who ruins her image and demeanor immediately becomes a target for her. Erina likes to flaunt her titles and status over her less privileged classmates, mostly towards her main rival and antagonist, Sōma Yukihira. Despite her prideful nature, she does have a soft side, but this has only been shown whenever her idol, Jōichirō Saiba, is on her mind. She lacks common teenage girl behaviors, such as romances and relationships. She considers a girl walking home together with a boy and even a couple holding hands as "shameless". She does not know how to handle free time as a "normal girl" would and, as Alice would say, she lacks common sense. For example, she has no clue where to buy Shojo manga because Hisako always buys them for her and they are not found in her grandfather's study. Still, Erina does have some traits of a normal girl since she likes to read shōjo manga. History Born in the prestigious Nakiri Family, Erina is gifted with "God's Tongue", the ability to accurately judge a food's quality to the highest degree. Since her gift became well known, most of her baby food was made by the professional chefs to satisfy her incredible and impressive tasting abilities. As young girl, Erina had somewhat of a rivalry with her Danish cousin Alice Nakiri, whom also was born into the Nakiri family. Erina at age 3 snatched Alice's toy from her and thought that the cake that Alice baked for her 4th birthday tasted awful. Around this time, she became friends with another young girl named Hisako Arato, who pledged all of her efforts to serve Erina. Around the age of 10, Erina met a man who changed her life, Jōichirō Saiba. Jōichirō's unorthodox cooking and talent coupled with his cool personality amazed Erina who was already used to eating the highest quality dishes in the world. Jōichirō became her idol and image of the perfect chef. Erina developed a crush on him as she has been shown blushing whenever she is reminded of him. Jōichirō and Erina took a picture together which remains her greatest treasure. Road to Greatness and Early Life in the Academy Under the wing of her grandfather after Saiba's departure, Erina continued to further her cooking and became a prominent figure in the cooking world. Unsatisfied by most dishes served to her in the aftermath of Saiba's departure, she became infamously known throughout the world, as any dish deemed unsatisfactory by her meant the end of anyone's hope of becoming a high class chef. Her prodigious skills and renowned fame easily allowed her to be the top of her class and become the youngest Elite Ten Council member in the history of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy before she even entered the high school level, holding the 10th seat. Shortly before the start of her high school life, Erina was asked, as a member of the Elite Ten Council, to judge numerous dishes for various companies, most of which left her unimpressed. Unhappy from the lack of excitement from her jobs, Hisako informed her that her last major job was to proctor an entrance exam for the high school level of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. Plot Enrollment Exam and Entrance Ceremony Upon arrival at the exam, Erina introduced her self and decided that their task was to make any dish with eggs as its basis. Any dish that managed to satisfy her would grant them entrance into Tōtsuki, however she also mentioned that they had one minute to withdraw from the examination. Without a moment's hesitation, the room was quickly vacated. To her surprise, one student stayed: Sōma Yukihira, who accepted the challenge and decided to cook a dish from his family restaurant's secret menu, a Transforming Furikake Gohan. Though she was initially insulted by the simplistic name, the end product enticed her enough to try the dish. Much to her disbelief, the simple dish had impressed her, but her pride and Sōma's cockiness immediately caused her to deny him entrance into the school. Livid from the experience, she informed her grandfather that no applicants had passed. One month later, Erina was welcomed as the top prospect of the 92nd Tōtsuki Generation from the Middle School section during their Entrance Ceremony. After her grandfather, Senzaemon Nakiri, gave his entrance speech, declaring that 99 percent of their class would ultimately fail, Erina smugly told herself that she will stand at the top of Tōtsuki while the rest will fight for second place. However, before the ceremony concluded, Senzaemon introduced the only transfer student, Sōma Yukihira. Erina was shocked that he was granted entry into Tōtsuki despite the fact that she personally denied him. Confused and angry over his unexpected entry and his ambitious speech, Erina continued to degrade Sōma and tried to devalue him by declaring that everyone else in their generation had studied for three years during middle school. Undeterred, Sōma responded that three years of educational training cannot compete with twelves years of hands on cooking in a real life kitchen. Sōma vowed that he would make Erina admit that his food was good by the end of high school. Soma's First Shokugeki Main Article: First Shokugeki Arc For much of Erina's initial reign as the tenth seat of the Elite Ten Council, she began her "Nakiri Cooking Lab Extension" project to expand her kitchen which she claimed was too small. Erina began to personally challenge numerous Tōtsuki clubs to Shokugekis. Many of her targets were deemed "unnecessary" to her due to her belief that simplistic "B-Class" dishes do not belong in Tōtsuki. The day after Sōma joined the Polar Star Dormitory, Erina challenged the Chan RS president, Kiyoshi Gōdabayashi to a Shokugeki to move forward with her project. With the condition that she abandon her 10th seat should she lose, she accepted and began the Shokugeki. In the end, Erina effortlessly won. Taking time to taste Gōdabayashi's dish she immediately identified 27 different flaws. As she explained the faults of the dish, Gōdabayashi angrily tried to refute her by trying her dish to look for flaws. However, as he ate her Ravioli Di Aragosta, the fantastic taste overwhelmed his senses. With the results of the Shokugeki finalized, Erina called a demolition crew to tear down the Chan RS club. After leaving the arena and receiving an ovation by her personal butlers, she was greeted by Hisako who brought her the news of Sōma's high grade in Chapelle's class, causing her demeanor to instantly snap. Enraged, Erina told Hisako not to mention his name around her. Thinking that Sōma is the greatest threat to her "sanctuary", Erina vowed to remove Sōma from Tōtsuki as soon as possible, by any means necessary. Erina did not act alone in her project as she had another individual, Ikumi Mito, whose pride as the successor to the Mito Family, shared similar values as Erina and was a part of her faction. Ikumi later reported to Erina that she was challenged to a Shokugeki by none other than Sōma on behalf of the Don RS with the condition that he would be expelled if he lost the match. Delighted to know that her opportunity to expel him had arrived, she allowed Ikumi take the challenge in her name. After Ikumi notified her that she would be using A5 beef to secure victory, Erina confidently left the Shokugeki in her hands. On the day of the Shokugeki Erina personally came to the Shokugeki Arena to watch what was to be Sōma's first Shokugeki and ensure that the battle would be Sōma's last act in Tōtsuki. Despite Ikumi's best effort and overall successful dish, her dish was no match for Sōma's true donburi which ultimately ended with Sōma's victory. The surprising conclusion left Erina speechless. As Ikumi gazed at the Erina in her booth, she coldly walked away and told Hisako to vacate Ikumi's personal kitchen, breaking all ties from her. Training Camp Main Article:Hellish Training Camp Arc Several days after the ''Shokugeki'' between Soma and Ikumi, Erina received a letter from the academy, announcing that the Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training was coming up soon. Though she felt that the camp was a waste of time, Erina reluctantly joined her fellow classmates to the camp. As expected, Erina faced very little challenge during the camp's assignments, completing all of them with relative ease. She completed the first day of the camp and the extra assignment by Hitoshi Sekimori faster than anyone in her class. Walking down the hallway, Erina blissfully hummed until, at a blind corner, Erina bumped into a student who had just completed his task. Much to her dismay, it was none other than Sōma, who had just finished his task after her. Though Sōma kindly offered to help her to her feet, Erina refused his help. Erina voice her skepticism against Sōma's grade in Chapelle's class and his victory in the Shokugeki against Ikumi. She continued to belittle Sōma's achievements and even admitted that the day that he would leave the academy would be the happiest day of her life. However Sōma did not take anything to heart and even noted her happy humming earlier. As Hisako arrived after completing her task, Erina told Sōma to leave her presence. Sōma obeyed and left to go into the bath as Erina told Hisako that she was not going to play any card games that night as she felt they were too "happy-go-lucky." Third Round and the Breakfast Buffet Challenge On the third night, Erina and the rest of the 92nd generation was summoned to the main hall for a surprise announcement. After Dōjima announced that their task for the next morning was to serve a breakfast dish for the hotel's guest, Erina confronted Sōma. Overhearing rumors about his [[Yukihira-Tadokoro Vs. Shinomiya Shokugeki|''Shokugeki'']] from the previous day, Erina told Sōma not to present a "vulgar" dish like his Transforming Gohan. Erina departed from the Main Hall with Hisako to head to the kitchens. On the way there, Erina bumped into Alice who told her to enjoy her time at the top of the class while she still has it, to which Erina merely dismissed her comment. Erina spent very little time selecting her dish and decided to sleep well before any of the other students had finalized their dishes. Erina reflected on Sōma's entrance exam, declaring that she would show him the true power of a Tōtsuki dish. The next morning, Erina was assigned to Hall A and, as fate would have it, in the neighboring kitchen was none other than Sōma. When Sōma said that he could finally see her cook, Erina sarcastically declared that he can taste the difference between their cooking. However, Sōma mistook her statement as an invitation to taste each other's dish afterwards. Dōjima officially started the challenge as the hotel guests, many big name food suppliers, and the hotel staff flooded into the halls. As Erina began to prepare her dish, Sōma chatted a bit with her. When Sōma told her about his dish, she laughed to herself from Sōma's choice regarding its texture. With the task of serving 200 dishes in two hours, Erina presented her dish, an Eggs Benedict. The dish was a great success, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall. With very little effort, Erina easy served 200 dishes well before the first hour had expired. As the final 30 minutes began, many of the other students began to serve their 200th dish except for Sōma who had barely served 10. Although she took some time to laugh at Sōma's misfortune, she noticed that he had his eyes closed. Erina was shocked that Sōma thought that he could serve 190 dishes in less than 30 minutes as he muttered his plan to himself. Erina watched as Sōma began to serve out his dish at record speeds, stealing some attention from her stand. With seconds to spare, Sōma barely managed to serve his 200 dish quota. In the end though, Erina had served over 400 dishes, the only student to reach that number. Erina watched as Alice entered the hall and declared that she will stand at the top of Tōtsuki. When Alice told Sōma that he barely managed to pass the assignment, Erina was surprised by Sōma's "Experience of Failure" quote. However, they did not have much time to stay as the next assignment for that day was about to begin. The Final Day On the final day, Dōjima summoned the class once more to the Main Hall to announce their final activity. Though most of her classmates were exhausted, Erina was still full of vim and vigor. Dōjima announced that she and the other 627 students who had made it thus far had passed the camp and their final activity was a lavish banquet prepared by the Tōtsuki Resort staff and the Tōtsuki Academy Alumni. Erina joined Hisako during the banquet. The next morning, Erina packed up her room and was ready to return to Tōtsuki. Unfortunately she had forgotten something in her room and told Hisako that she will arrange for a car to take her back. When she returned to her room, she retrieved what she had forgotten: A diary with a photo of a young Erina with her cooking idol, Jōichirō Saiba, inside. As Erina left the hotel with her car waiting, ironically Sōma had also forgotten something and had missed the bus. Needing a ride back to the academy, Erina reluctantly allowed Sōma to ride back to Tōtsuki with her. During the car ride, the two sat silently until Sōma brought up her earlier claims that he would fail the camp. Fuming in anger over Soma's cheeky quote, Erina retorted that he will continue to struggle and will never be considered for the upcoming Autumn Election. Erina then explained the basics of the Autumn Election, which excited Sōma, however Erina reinforced that he will not be a participant. She finally brought up Sōma's "gained experience of failing", stating that a cook cannot fail and that his statement is nothing more than an excuse for his "incompetence." She told him that chef must be perfect like a "certain man's" cooking. When Soma asked why she missed the bus, Erina denied him an answer. Seeing that there was not anything else to talk about, Sōma decided to take a nap while Erina looked out her window, blushing, as she thought about Saiba. The Tōtsuki Autumn Election Main Article:Tōtsuki Autumn Election Arc During the June holiday week, Erina was summoned along with her fellow Elite Ten Council members to decide on the participants from the 92nd Generation for the preliminaries. Among those who were selected to participate by the Tōtsuki heads during the Training campwas Sōma. As the council filled the last 20 positions, Erina brought up Sōma to the council and vocally protested his inclusion. However the rest of the council already deemed him worthy of participating with Satoshi Isshiki and Etsuya Eizan defending his selection personally. A few weeks later, the participants selected were officially announced and Erina congratulated Hisako for her selection. Hisako promised that she would defeat Sōma at all costs, however these words caused Erina to recall her previous claims that Sōma would not participate in the elections, much to her embarrassment. The next day, as she returned to the Academy after performing her duty as an Elite Ten member, during her car ride back, Erina sensed Jōichirō's presence, who had just left Polar Star Dormitory. Erina immediately stopped the car and jumped out, hoping to catch a glimpse of her idol. To her dismay, he was nowhere in sight. Nakiri Cousins' Holiday Main Article: Natsuyasumi no Erina During the month break during summer, Erina watched Hisako as she prepared for the Autumn Preliminaries. Throughout the day, Erina gave her as much help as she could until Hisako felt that Erina was giving her too much input. Proud that her secretary wished to show her own strength, Erina let Hisako work unassisted. Unfortunately with nothing to do, Erina began to wonder what she could do. Soon after she received a call from Alice asking to spend some time together. To her dismay, their vacation spot was a public pool. They bickered for a bit until Erina threatened to leave. However thanks to some reverse-psychology from Alice, Erina stubbornly stayed. In the pool area, Erina walked out in a swimsuit and a jacket. Though she was embarrassed, Alice convinced her to remove the jacket so she could swim properly. Erina and Alice played around for a while and Erina enjoyed herself. As they sat at the edge of the pool, Alice asked if she knew about "Hitting on girls" by boys at the pool. Erina believes that such things do not happen, but unbeknownst to her, her bodyguards and Ryō Kurokiba's intimidating appearance scared off most of the boys at the pool. Alice then asked if Erina ever had a crush, which Erina cryptically recalled her "special someone" whose cooking was perfect by her standards. However Alice teased her that she truly doesn't understand love when Erina denied ever wanting to date him. She retorted that Alice must be all talk, but she said that she's well prepared from all of the romance movies she has "watched". Afterwards, Erina lamented about her ''worst holiday ever. Suspicious from her cousin's happy-go-lucky and playful nature during the experience, Erina wondered about her cousin's intentions. As she waited for Alice's car so she could return home, Erina saw a few couples holding hands together, but she deems such relationships as boring. Returning to the Nakiri Mansion, Hisako talked to Erina, worried that Alice belittled her during the vacation. Erina reassured her and asked about her jobs for the next day. Hisako recommended that she take a real vacation, but Erina remained determined to do her jobs. She told herself that she does not have time to be in a relationship and hardened her resolve to remain as the best figure within the Tōtsuki. After her vacation, Erina would visit the newly opened restaurant somewhere away from the Tōtsuki. During the opening party ceremony, she met all kinds of the renowned figures of the culinary business and she begin the meeting with the smile on her face. Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Preliminary Round Erina decided to watch over the "A" Block during the judging portion of the preliminaries. Among the more notable people who managed to catch her attention was Ryō Kurokiba, whom she acknowledged because of Alice's trust in him. The next person to catch her attention was Akira Hayama, whose Curry Fish Head in Naan Pot Pie Soup managed to beat Kurokiba's score with a 94 while earning two perfect scores from the judges. Satoshi entered the booth along with Fumio Daimidō as Sōma presented his curry dish immediately after Akira. Satoshi believed that Sōma's participation in the "A" Block was the reason why she decided to watch that block in particular. To her surprise, Sōma's curry dish was met with praise from all of the judges as Satoshi and Fumio told Erina that Sōma was the ultimate sore loser, using the ideas from the Breakfast Challenge and the duel between his father to create his dish. Erina stood silently, reflecting on her previous claims that a chef can never fail to Sōma. Erina continued to stand in silence as Sōma's dish earned him a 93, qualifying him for the main tournament. Tōtsuki Autumn Election: Main Tournament Day Before the Tournament A day before the Main Tournament, Erina, along with Satoshi and Etsuya, gathered at Tōtsuki HQ to announce the first round match ups to the 8 participants. When Sōma arrived, they told him that his first round theme would be a bento dish. Sōma was surprised by the simple theme, but Erina surprised him further when she explained that a Bento has a potential to be an A-Class dish. Sōma jokingly mentioned that it was hard to talk to her and Erina, confused, became increasingly frustrated with their conversation. Shortly after, Sōma's first round opponent, Alice, walked into the room. Quarterfinals After the conclusion of the first round, which resulted in Alice's defeat, Erina was waiting in the waiting area to mock Alice for her loss. Already upset from her defeat, Alice told Erina to wait for their eventual duel in the future. As Alice stormed off, Erina told herself that it must be nice to be able to cry selfishly like her. Later, after Ryō was declared the winner of the second match, Erina was waiting in the Judge's waiting area to direct them to the cars to take them off of the premise. As her grandfather passed by, Erina noticed that something was wrong with him. Senzaemon brushed off her concerns as he left for the bathroom as Erina watched in silence. Later that night, Hisako declared that she will emerge victorious from her match the next day. Erina gave Hisako her full confidence for her match. However Hisako lost her match to Akira Hayama. Crushed by her defeat, Hisako decided to take a leave of absence to improve herself, even though Erina tried to stop her. Semifinals Main Article: Yukihira Vs. Mimasaka Semifinal Shokugeki The following week, Erina spent much of her time reading Shojo Manga during her free time, however she was lonely due to Hisako's absence and did not know how to get the next volume of the Manga she was reading. Just as she was thinking about Hisako, the doorbell to the Nakiri Mansion rang, whom Erina assumed was Hisako. However, after she joyfully welcomed "Hisako" she soon realized it was Sōma and Mitsuru Sōtsuda who had come in hopes of having Erina critique Sōma's beef stew for his upcoming Semifinal Shokugeki. She initially refused to help unless Sōma paid a hefty fee, however Sōma noticed the manga she was holding and slipped a comment that one of the Polar Star residents has all of the volumes. Willing to negotiate some critique in exchange for the other volumes she wanted, Erina agreed. Without even tasting his stew, Erina was able to pick out every detail of the dish and after a single taste, she deemed that it would be great for a normal restaurant, but not for the tournament itself. Erina told Sōma that he does not understood the theme of the challenge but before Sōma could inquire further info, Erina promptly denied him any further help and forced him to leave. Before she closed the door however, she told Sōma to ask his dorm-mate for the next volume of the Manga she was reading earlier. Sōma's Semifinals Shokugeki On the day of the Semifinals, Erina arrived at the Arena to watch Sōma's match against Subaru Mimasaka, expecting him to lose based on her previous critique. She finally revealed that a high class beef stew needs to be delicious from the first bite and not be a building experience like a special-of-the-day shop should be. To her surprise, from the little critique she had given him, Sōma brought out some beef tail which she figured that he was using due to the gelatinous properties which was a technique used by Hisako in her quarterfinal match. She watched as Sōma's improvements were covering his previous flaws, which left her speechless. Regardless, Erina continued to observed the Shokugeki where Sōma, despite his early disadvantages in the Shokugeki, still managed to turned the tide and emerged victorious, thus qualified to the Finals. Additionally, according to the Shokugeki's one side stipulations from Sōma, all 100 kitchen knives (except Takumi's Mezzaluna) were returned to their respective owners. Before Sōma could leave the Arena, he came to Erina and reminded her that he has one more match to win in order challenge her for the top. Despite her nemesis's miraculous 2nd Shokugeki victory, Erina still belittled about Sōma as she claimed that she was still superior above him. Afterwards, both Erina and Sōma heard the announcement of the last Semifinals match between Akira and Ryō Cooking Style Erina has no particular cooking or cuisine specialty. Instead her cooking is based upon "regal" themes, supported by high quality ingredients and incredible creativity. Erina's cooking and skill easily allowed her to acquire the 10th seat of the Elite 10 Council, signifying that she is indeed the best chef of her class and one of the best chefs currently in Tōtsuki. Skills *'God's Tongue' - Erina's tongue is considered the best in the world, able to taste a dish to the highest degree. From this acute sense of taste and her vast knowledge in cooking, Erina can accurately taste and determine minute errors in any dish, even able to detect how many seconds a chef had overcooked a specific part of their dish. Gin Dōjima mentioned that her tongue is so accurate that she can differentiate and identify 8 different salts blindfolded. Dishes Original Dishes *'Ravioli Di Aragosta' - Erina's dish to defeat Kiyoshi Gōdabayashi, the president of the Chan RS in a Shokugeki. A simple Italian ravioli improved by Erina's mastery in cooking created a truly perfect dish to give her a decisive victory. *'Eggs Benedict' - Erina's dish during the Tōtsuki Friendship and Rapport Training and the Breakfast Buffet Struggle exam. Combined with bacon strips and bread, this dish is one of the artistic dishes. the flavor is so powerful, it forces complete obedience in servitude. Cooking Duel Records Official Shokugeki Record Trivia *Erina ranked 2nd in the first popularity poll with 803 votes *Erina is derived from Eleanor which was a very common name amongst of high nobility women during the High Middle Ages, reflecting Erina's prestige in the Cooking Industry. Nakiri uses the kanji for To Mow Down (Na) and Limit (Kiri). References Navigation zh:薙切繪理奈 Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Elite Ten Council Category:Tōtsuki Culinary Academy Students Category:Students Category:92nd Generation Students Category:Nakiri Family